Beer, Spaghetti, and Pharmaceuticals ||COMPLETED||

Forty-Two

"I don't understand how you can drink those things," Blaise said, scowling at the drink in Alice's hands as they walked down the busy streets in the heart of the city.

"What? It's a frappuccino," Alice said, stirring the abundance of whipped cream into the frozen coffee. "They're delicious."

"It's a milkshake with a tablespoon of coffee," he said, pulling his package of cigarettes from his pocket and sticking one between his lips. "That's your third one today."

"So?" Alice asked, staring longingly at the smoke elegantly flowing from the end of the cigarette. Turning her eyes back to the drink in her hand, she closed her lips over the straw, sucking back until a chunk of ice flew into the back of her throat, making her cough mercilessly until the ice melted enough to slide down her throat.

"See? They're deadly too!"

"Oh, like you're -" She coughed and gasped for air until she could properly fill her lungs again. " - One to talk."

He stared at the smoke in between his fingertips. "Hmm. Me smoking around you all day probably isn't helping, is it?"

"Let's say there's a reason why this is my third milksh - I mean - frappuccino today."

"Well, you can't deny that this is a nice change of pace, can you?" he asked as they paused at a busy intersection and threw the half-smoked cigarette in an ashtray. "Ever since you've been shagging Isaac behind our backs, we haven't had many opportunities to hang out one-on-one, have we?"

"Yeah, I guess that's true." The walk symbol glowed and they crossed the street, Alice racing to catch up to Blaise's long strides. "Where are we going for food, anyways?"

"Well, Isaac's off to New York, and Emily is working late, so I vote literally anywhere that isn't that dirty pub or has a vegan menu," Blaise said, scrunching up his nose. "If I eat another portobello mushroom that claims it's a hamburger I'll lose it."

"Hey, some of that stuff is pretty tasty," Alice said. "Emily makes these really good cauliflower wings -"

"I don't care. This is my vacation right now," Blaise quickly interjected. "Let's go get some steak stuffed with fried chicken or something."

Alice contemplated the bizarre food combination while taking a sip from the straw. "You know, that actually sounds pretty delicious."

"Right?" Blaise said, throwing his hands in the air, practically salivating. "That's it. I vote we quit working for Isaac and start distributing fried chicken stuffed steak. We can call the brand... 'Fricken Steak'. You know, like a combination of fried chicken and steak. And we'll be rich!" As another lightbulb glowed above his head, he quickly added, "then, that way, you can date Isaac in public and we'll all live happily ever after."

Alice raised an eyebrow at Blaise and snickered. "Something tells me Emily would have a conniption fit if you quit your job to start the single least-vegan industry you can think of."

Shoving his hands in his leather jacket and kicking a pebble, Blaise sighed. "Yeah, I guess only you and Isaac would be the only ones having a happy ending."

A cheeky grin grew on his face and he wiggled his eyebrows at Alice. "That would make up for the one Isaac didn't get this weekend."

Before Blaise had a chance to finish the sentence, Alice was already punching him in the shoulder. "I told you not to talk about that anymore!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but now that I've gotten over the trauma, it's hilarious."

"You suck."

"No, yo -"